ufischer

For those of us without dipsticks, when we check our oil level there is always a countdown. Sometimes the countdown is as short as 20 seconds, sometimes longer than a minute. I have not been able to correlate the length of the countdown to engine temperature or anything else that makes sense. What is happening during the countdown and why does the length vary so much?

Macster

Well, I believe the countdown is temperature dependent along with how long the engine has been off.

I have no experience with the 997 models but with the older models (02 Boxster; the 03 Turbo the engine has to be running to measure the oil level) if the engine was not fully up to temp -- and this can take 10 to 15 minutes of driving -- a partially warmed engine requires considerably more engine off time to have the countdown timer at 5 seconds, the least amount of time I've ever observed it would start counting down from.

I never bother to measure the oil level if the countdown timer doesn't start at 5 seconds.

With a hot engine I can park the car turn off the engine and dash into a 7/11 convenience store and by the time I'm back in the car the countdown timer starts at 5 seconds.

Similarly at the gas station I can stop and fill up the tank -- adding 8 to 12 (or sometimes more) gallons -- and when I'm back in the car the countdown timer starts out at 5 seconds.

Unless something has changed with the new models I think you are just not aware of how long it takes these engines to get fully warmed up.

But once fully up to temperature means it takes just a short time for the oil to drain back to the sump so in all but the briefest times between engine off and key back on will you find the countdown timer not starting out at 5 seconds.

ufischer

I have experienced times of 70-75 seconds with a fully warmed engine (200 deg). Sometimes I get the long periods when stopped at a light which of course means I start moving before the measurement is shown. A few minutes later at a different light I may get 20 seconds.

okbarnett

the car needs to be hot, hot to get real measurement. stop and sit idle/level for 20 to 30 sec, then check. it will be correct

Edgy01

What Macster said, except with the 997 the counter minimum is now 6 seconds.

Smitten

It IS unpredictable, isn't it? I've seen times as high as a minute and as short as 10sec. (997.2)

Playing around with it, I've found the car must be level, running, at idle, oil temp >60C, and stationary.

slicky rick

Hot engine, idling, oil temp 90 deg or higher in deg C of course, 4 secs.

stronbl

^^^^
+1

Oil temp > 200 degrees, gives a reasonable measurement. But you need to take some care if you have been running at high rpm (redline or close to it) for a while - say in a DE event for example. In this case the timer will usually be in the less than 10 seconds mode, but you may not have an accurate reading. I find that letting the engine idle for another 5 - 8 minutes as the oil temp cools a bit allows for some oil to drip back into the pan bottom. When I read it initially after running at high rpm's I find it is usually a pint or so low. After the 5 - 8 min idle (I do a few intermediate readings while idling to check the progress) I normally get that pint back. I almost caught found myself in an overflow situation from the above behavior. It's a good thing to learn your engine's and oil sensor's characteristics in case it behaves similar to mine.

SteveFromMN

Not having a dip stick is the stupidest thing they could have done. I have a 2012 997 and the motor has to be hot and running to check. You will hear all kinds of dealers overfilling engines with oil changes. It is a trail and error method to get oil level just right after a change. What were they thinking. How much would it have cost to retain a old dip stick as well as the electronic gauge. I usually stand up for the Porsche engineers but in this case they are the dipsticks or maybe it was the bean counters.

jhbrennan

Find another dealer for service - it is not a trial and error process.

MJBird993

Since so many manufacturers are doing this now, I wonder if it is an emissions thing?The only stories I've heard about dealers doing that is some Chevy dealers who have mechanics that don't know the difference between a regular Corvette and a Grand Sport or Z06, which have a dry sump and a different fill procedure.

Macster

Exactly.

Where my cars are serviced the oil is dispensed through a gun that reads out in 0.01/liter.

The techs do not go by the dipstick of my 02 Boxster or even the oil e-level readout of the Boxster or the Turbo, but what the gun readout is.

The techs then check the oil level via the dipstick or the oil e-level readout to confirm the reading of the amount of oil in the engine agrees with the amount of oil that was put into the engine.

The amount of oil to be added to the engine is given by Porsche for the car based on its VIN.

The amount of time the oil is to be drained is also given by Porsche. For the DFI engines the drain time (min.) is one hour. The techs tell me there is also an overnight (12 hour) drain interval.

The minimum temperature at which the oil is to be drained is also given.

Thus the engine is consistently drained of oil so the refill going by the numbers should have the right amount of oil in the engine and allow the tech to verify the dipstick and e-level readings are correct.

I might add the refill amount for a one hour drain vs. an overnight drain is also different.

Charolastra

Really, is that it? Only 70-75 seconds?

After my engine is fully warmed, it normally says ~10 minutes* (*give or take a few minutes here and there, but never less than 5 minutes) before it'll give me an accurate oil reading.

Not to threadjack, but do I have a problem with my car? Now I'm all paranoid....

997_rich

I think a lot of the confusion comes from the different styles of 997 oil measuring devices. The early 997s measure oil electronically when the engine is off and the later 997s only measure oil when the engine is running and at temp.

SteveFromMN

I do all my own service I only take my car for warranty stuff which this one has not needed. If you put the exact required amount of oil you may overfill because all the oil may not drain. If it does show over you don't know how much. It is a flawed system any way you look at it. I have been working on high performance cars for over 60 years.
Maybe I'm just an old fart but as an engineer some things that are simple are just better. I design microcomputer controlled systems for a living. On some things these cars are just amazing but this is overkill dumb.